Folding bed



J. C. CULBERTSON.

FOLDING BED.

APPLICATION FILED 050.22, 1919.

' Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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JAMES C. CULBERTSON, OF CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

FOLDING BED.

Application filed December 22, 1919. Serial No. 346,574.

T 0 aZZ whom it may concern.

Be it known that 1, JAMES C. CULBERT- soN, a citizen of the U: ted States, residing at Chester, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Folding Bed, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to folding beds of that wherein there is provided a housing having foldable doors, into which is aoapted to pivotally swing a bed-supporting frame in such manner as to completely conceal the bed from view, when said doors are closed. 7

One object is to provide a structure of this character wherein the bed-supporting frame is adapted to receive and support a non-colla sible bed spring frame of any ordinary make, and to carry the same, together with a mattress and any ordinary bedding into the housin and to freely permit of the same being lowered or swung into position for use with a minimum expenditure of power. the bed-supporting frame being fulcrumed intermediate its length upon horizontally disposed pivots so as to be counterbalanced in such manner as vto permit of the outer or foot end of the same being easilv elevated or lowered as desired.

A further and important object is to equip the bed-su orting frame with means foradjustably engaging and holding the longitudinal meinl ers of the spring frame so that various sizes of the lattermay be used in conjunction with the invention; and finally to'so construct the latter that the device may be built into the walls of a building for the ur ose stated, or the same may be more ornately designed and finished so as to be adapted to be used as an article of furniture to stand out'in the room in which it is used and to be of portable char-' acter. i f

-A full and complete understanding of the invention mav be obtained from aconsideration of the following detailed description. taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming apart of this sneciii-ationz it beingunderstood that while the drawings show a practical form of the invention. the latter is not confined to strict conformitv therewith, but may be changed or-modified. so long'as such changesmark no material denartureffrom the salient features of the Y invention. as specifically pointed out in" the appended claims.

the

. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV. 16, 192 0. i

V In the drawings, in which similar reference characters designate corresponding folded position in full lines and in extended 7 osition in dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the invention in extended position, the bed spring frame being indicated in dotted lines.

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view through bed-supporting frame, parts being broken away to disclose the construction of the adiustahle means for engaging, clam ing and supporting bed spring frames of various dimensions.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown an open frame work comprising vertically disposed end walls or panels 11 of a height to exceed the width of the widest bed and of a'width to freely admit, between their front and rear edges, a bed-supporting frame together with its. burden of bed-springs, bedding, etc, as will hereinafter appear.

The end walls or panels 11 are joinedv together at their tops and bottoms by upper and lower walls 2-2 of equal width therewith, and serving to form arigid rectangular'frame or housing, being preferably further strengthened by inclined braces 3 located at and connected to theadjac'entrear edges of the end and top walls.

At the lower portion of the front edges of the end walls 1--1= a front supportingsill 3 is suitably secured, the lower edge 'of the same 'beingconnected to the front edge of the bottom wall 2, and the front opening thus formed between the front edge of the top wall 2 and the top edge of said sill 8 i's'adapted to be closed, when desired. by folding doors 4, arranged in pairs at the right and left of the housing, being suitably hinged to the front edges of the side or end walls thereof, as indicated (at 5.

The right and left hand pairsof doors; are hinged together as at 6 so that each pair may be folded, when inropen position, to occupy a minimum amount of space, 1n a well-known manner, and the same are adapted to completely close the housing. one of the abutting doors 6 being provided with an.

overlapping cleat 6 to close the central opening between the abutting doors, and a suitable look, not shown, may be supplied for holding the doors in closed position. A strip or rib E2 secured on the underside of the top wall, adjacent to the front edge thereof, serves as a stop for the doors 6-6, in order to prevent the latter from being pushed too far inwardly, as will be understood; V V

Arranged transversely of the sill 3 and hingedly secured to the top edges thereof, by hinges 7 7, are bed-supporting members 88 in the form of beams, the said hinges 7 being secured to their under sides at points removed fromtheir inner ends, so that the latter will, in part, counterbalance their outer ends and thus facilitate the raising or lowering of the same when desired.

Each bed-supporting member 8 is provided, at its outer; or long end with a short leg 9, secured thereto by a hinge 10 in such manner that the upper end of said leg fits beneath the outer end of the member 8 and is adaptedto support the outer end of the same in horizontal position when in use, the

length of the leg being substantially equal to the height of the sill 3 and being adapted 'to fold down, against the outer face of the member 8 when the latter is raised to vertical position to house the same within the casing or framework.

Each bed-supporting member 8 is furthermore provided at its inner or short end with a perpendicularly disposed arm 11, preferably formed of suitable metal and secured to the underside of the member 8 by means of an angularly bent terminal and adapted to lie, when the members 88 are in elevated position, in horizontal position, adjacent to the bottom of the housing-and to form a support for the bedding. The arms 11 are connected at their outer or free ends by a longitudinally disposed strip 12, comprising a side rail to the bed, as shown in Fig. 1, and assisting-Vin supporting the bedding when in closed position, asheretofore described. V p

Inner clamps or hooks 13 are secured to the top sides of the supporting members 8 adjacent to the. arms 11 and comprise strips [of suitable metal bent to form attaching poralso to freely release the samewhen it is 'tions adapted to be secured in position by screws and ending in an outwardly curved terminal in spaced relation to the'beam or member 8 so as to receive and clamp one of the frame members 14 of any ordinary make of bed springs 15 or spring mattress, and

desired to remove the springs from the clev1ce. 7 j

'llhe other frame'member 14 of the bed sprin s isaclapted tobe similarly clamped by corresponding clamping members '16 which, like the, clamps 13, are formed of r metallic strip bent to provide open-ended sockets having their entrance openings directed toward the outer or long ends of the supporting members 88 and are adapted to engage over the adjacent frame member 1a and prevent its accidental removal from such engagement. It will be noted that the V clamp members 13 and 16 serve to support the weight of the bed springs when the de- 7 vice is elevated to be housed within the casing formed of the walls 1 and 2, and that the bed springs may only be removed from ongagement with the said clamps when the supporting frame is lowered to horizontal position with the legs 9-9 resting upon the floor, when by moving the bed springs ontwardly along the members 8-8 the T118111" bers ll'are freed from the clamps.

In orderv to adapt the device to bed springs of different widths, and to enable the clamping members to properly engage with the longitudinal frame members of the bed springs, the clamps 16 instead of having their attaching portions secured to the beams 8 byscrews, as'in the case of the inner clamps 13, are adapted to be adj ustably held by bolts 17 traversing vertical longitudinal slots 18 formed'in the members 8-8, and provided with wing nuts. 19, which act to bind the clamps 16-16 in any transversely adjusted position to suit different sized bed springs, as will be readily apparent. The clamps 13, 16, may assume a variety of shapes and still come within my invention,

and ornamenting the sides of the housing and the top therof, the device may be built to form a portable folding bed, adapted to be moved from place to place, as desired. Indeed, the special construction of the housing with its doors and other appurtenances forms no part'of the claimed invention.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that a simple and cheaply manufactured folding bed has been provided, which may be adjusted to support beds ofdifferentsizes, and which may be easily operated to arrange the bed for use, or to house the same when not' in use, and that the same may be easily cleaned and kept in sanitary condition, free access being had to all parts when the bed springs are removed.

What is claimed 'is:

1. In a folding bed, a housing having a front sill, a pair of spaced beams hinged intermediate their ends upon said sill,-a lei,

hinged to the outer end of said beam,'sai\l tion and movable from a substantially vertical to a substantially horizontal position and projecting partially within and partially without the housing when in the lastnamed position, an arm connectedto the inner ends of said beams, a strip connecting said arms and extending at its ends beyond said'beams, a bed spring resting upon and supported by the beams, and clamping means carried by the beams to engage the frame members of the bed spring to detachably hold the same thereon and permit its bodily removal or replacement when the beams are swung down to a horizontal position.

3. A folding bed comprising a housing having a front sill and doors, supporting beams fulcrumed on said sill in spaced relation and adapted to be swung from a'horizontal to a vertical pos1t1on, a bed spring having its frame members resting upon and supported by the beams, and clamps carried by the beams to engage the frame members of the bed spring, the outer pain of said clamps being longitudinally movable along y the beams to receive and hold the frame members of different sizes of bed springs,

the inner pair of clamps being fixed to the respective beams, and both pairs so holding the bed spring as to prevent movement thereof when the bed is folded while allowing free withdrawal of the bed springs away from the beams in horizontal direction when the bed is unfolded. v v v V 4. A folding bed comprising a housing having a front sill and doors, supporting beams fulcrumed on said sill in spaced relation and adapted to be swung from a horizontal to a vertical position, a bed spring having its frame members resting upon and supported by the beams, and clamps carried by the beams to engage the frame members of the bed spring, the outer pair of said clamps being longitudinally movable along the beams to receive and hold the frame members of different sizes of bed springs,-

the inner pair of clamps being fixed to the respective beams, and both clamps having open ended sockets with their entrance openings directed toward the outer ends of said beams, whereby when the beams are in their horizontal position the bed spring maybe freely Withdrawn from the clamps.

In testimony that I claim the foregoingas U my own, I have hereto aflixedmysignature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES C. CULBER-TSON.

Witnesses: r V

RAYMOND H. GURLIs, MARY BURNS. 

